good morning. we get a live look outside. this could be the calm before the storm in a lot of places. for us just warm temperatures this morning. thank you for joining us. i'm gurvir dhindsa.

let's go straight over to tucker. >> you put it well there, the calm before the storm. temperatures right now running in the 70s. 77 in washington. we had some 60s off to the north and west. frederick, 72. ocean city, 75 where they are getting ready for earl to pass off to the east here during the next couple of days. satellite-radar showing very quiet conditions. not much at all happening. we are just sort of waiting for earl to arrive from the south and east and a cold front from the south and west. eventually, we'll get that out of here. 93degrees your afternoon high. a little warmer than that yesterday. a few degrees cooler than yesterday with just a few clouds associated with earl late in the day. winds will be out of the south at five to 10 miles per hour. more on earl coming up.

category four hurricane, i'll give you the latest in just a second. >> there are other big stories we're following this morning. authorities are surveying the discovery communications headquarters in downtown silver spring looking for any traces of explosives that a gunman may have left behind when he stormed the building and took hostages yesterday afternoon. it was an ordeal that lasted for hours. gunman, james lee, is dead and everyone got out okay. roz plater has the story. >> reporter: 1:00 this the afternoon, a man walks into the discovery building lobby in busy downtown silver spring. he has a long-standing grudge with the cable channel and he is armed. >> he had what he believe to be explosive devices strapped to his front and back. he also had a handgun. there are reports that we've not confirmed yet that he did fire a shot when he came in. >> reporter: some 1900 people work in the building and there is a day care full of children.

one employee on his way back from lunch spotted the gunman and called to warn his coworkers. >> we all went to the windows to see. s.w.a.t. and everyone was pulling out, ganz drawn. we started getting e-mails telling us to get ourselves locked up into the closed offices up there, be safe. >> reporter: police mobilized quickly, tactical teams moving into place trying to get a read on the gunman. they soon learned he had taken three hostages. then employees get a second e- mail telling them to evacuate the building. >> we was really scared, panicked and nervous because we heard he had explosives. we really was scared. >> reporter: police say they immediately began northing with the gunman trying to ensure the hostages' safety and that it would end safely. the tactical team waited for their opportunity. >> it was reported that he pulled out the handgun that he

came in with and pointed it at one of the hostages. it is unconfirmed now whether he actually fired the weapon or not. but at that point, our tactical university moved in. they shot the suspect. the suspect is deceased. >> reporter: all three hostages got out unharmed. there was still the issue of the explosives strapped to his body. police say one of them began smoking and they brought in the explosives team to check out the building and investigate. >> thank you very much. whos james lee and what drove him over the edge? we know he had a long-standing beef with discovery communications. he posted some of his writings on a web site. in one chilling posting, he wrote stop all shows glorifying human birthing on all your channels. we'll have much more on this story throughout the morning. our other stop story, people from the carolinas to

new england are getting ready for hurricane earl. coastal cities appear to be oust earl's direct path but some people on the north carolina coast are heading inland as a precaution. winds up to 40 or 50 miles per hour are expected in some areas. a state of emergency is expected in maryland, virginia and north carolina. we have much more still ahead this morning as fox 5 morning news at 4:30 begins now. good morning to you. it is thursday morning, september 2nd, 2010 as we get a live look over our nation's capital off in the distance there you see the washington monument. we are dealing with hot temperatures in our area. the coastal areas bracing for hurricane earl. my pal tucker barnes is here to kind of bring us up to date on all of that stuff. >> good morning to you. >> good morning, friend. >> lots going on. let's take a look at vipir and give you the latest on

hurricane earl. look at that, an incredibly powerful hurricane. winds 140 miles per hour, gusts over 155. this is a very, very powerful storm. pressure has been falling during the last several hours. likely to maintain its intensity as it approached the north carolina coastline during the overnight hours tonight. we are about 18 to 24 hours away tray possible landfall. looks like it will just scoot along the coast but it could be too close to call. could make a brief landfall at the outer banks t will race up to new england. we'll get a glancing blow. certainly our coastal communities will get a lot of wind and problems with the waves over the next few days. here in washington, no problems directly associated with earl. we're doing fine right now. 77degrees at reagan national. let's push on and take a look at our current conditions. humidity is 64%. winds at five miles per hour.

you will notice today plenty of sunshine. perhaps a few late-day clouds if you are off to the south and east. here in washington, just another day with temperature well above average. back into the low 90s. 93 in washington. 94 in waldorf. >> we should point out that we have crews in ocean city this morning. we'll be checking in with them and checking in on the outer banks. >> good. >> thank you. julie wright is back. let's get a check on traffic. good morning. >> >> good morning to you both. right now t doesn't look so busy out on the highway. you will find the lanes are open if you are traveling along 270 out of hyattstown. no signs of any roadwork out of germantown headed for the lane divide. overfight roadwork along georgia avenue south of the beltway has cleared as you travel between 495 and 16th street. as a result of yesterday's investigation near the discovery building, you will

still find a portion of wayne avenue shut down in each intersection between georgia avenue and colesville road. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. our big story is that hours- long standoff at the discovery communications headquarters in downtown silver spring. it end wade gunman shot dead and thousands safely evacuated. this morning, police are still on the scene. the investigation is going to be going on for quite some time. the gunman identified as james lee is dead and we have team coverage beginning with fox 5's sarah simmons who is live outside the discovery building with the latest. >> reporter: montgomery county police, fire and ems explosives experts have been going through the discovery communications building with a fine tooth comb all fight long because they've been looking for additional explosive devices that they were concerned about could be inside. you can still see that they have this area blocked off through here. we are told they will still be

on the scene until at least 6:00 this morning looking for any possible packages that may still be inside there. this all started at 1:00 yesterday afternoon. a man police have now identified as you said as james lee walked into the discovery building lobby. he had a long-standing grudge with the cable channel and was armed with explosives and a handgun, according to police. he reportedly fired a shot when he first went in and took three people hostage. employees were warned by. mails to hide in their offices and then a second e-mail instructed all of the employees to evacuate. take a listen. >> quickly, people were running around not knowing exactly what was happening trying to look out the windows and then security guards were going it each floor telling us to stay away from the windows, stay in the offices and then ultimately we were told to go to the upper levels. then we were told to make our

way down and evacuate the building. >> reporter: now, the gunman was shot dead by police. nobody was injured through all of this, thankfully and the three hostages also were safe, uninjured, a security guard and two other men as far as we know. and we hope to learn more if police later on this morning. fire and ems about possibly anything else they may have discovered inside the building. they are expected to hold the saskatoon here until #:00 this morning. while we are still continuing to learn what is going on there, we do know more information about the alleged gunman. james lee was apparently fueled by anger discovery communications that festered for years. online, he blamed his anger on losing his job in san diego and seeing the al gore documentary an inconvenient truth. as bob barnard explains, there is no logic to explain the way he tried to get attention. >> reporter: james lee was no stranger to downtown silver spring. seen sheer during his much

tamer jet equally bizarre street side protests against discovery communications two and a half years ago. >> he was essentially taking homeless individuals and paying them sums of money to protest along with him at the site of this building. >> reporter: he took it a step further that week in february 2008 tossing large's of cash in the air in the silver spring business district. for this, james lee was arrested, charged and convicted of disorderly conduct, ordered to stay away from discovery headquarters for two years. a probationary period that ended two weeks ago. >> i am very shocked that he took to these kind of measures. >> reporter: his brother-in- law, thomas leonard says lee was a troubled man. >> we know that since there were a few deaths in the family that his spirit took a nosedive and he kind of started becoming a darker type of character. >> reporter: in the middle of the hostage crisis, lee spoke

by telephone with an nbc producer in new york. >> do you have a gun? >> i have a gun and a have a bomb. i have several self bombs strapped to my body ready to go off. >> reporter: his web site rantings against discovery just as chilling. stop all showing florida identifying human birthing on all your channels, he wrote. find solutions for global warming, international trade, factory pollution and the whole blasted human economy. programs encouraging human stearallization and infertility must be pushed. lee ways one-time artist in the movie industry, jailed for a few years in southern california. >> i think living in the shadow of some of his exhibit i thinks' success, perhaps one of the most talented persons but misguided i've ever met. >> reporter: bob barnard, fox 5 news. >> you can stay with fox 5 on air and online for the latest

development this is this story. we have details on the alleged gunman on our site. you can access our twitter feed and post your own comments. you can get there by logging onto myfoxdc.com. we are on top of the latest developments with hurricane earl as it makes its way up the east coast. prep rigs are under way from the carolinas to new england. states of emergency are now in effect in maryland, virginia and north carolina. the effects of the storm are expected to begin to be felt on the eastern shore tomorrow morning. winds up to 40 or 50 miles per hour could whip up the surf and cause beach erosion. what advice are officials giving to people with labor day vacation plans. we'll find out when we check in with sherry ly who is live in ocean city. she will join us in our 5:00 hour. new developments in the case of two men arrested on suspicion of plotting a terror attack. those men are no longer in custody. two weeks before the d.c. primary, the leading candidates for mayor face off in a debate. but the most compelling scene

may have happened outside that debate involving mayor fenty's wife. we'll explain. 

two yemeni terrorist suspects are free today. tests on their luggage showed signs of explosives. late are, mother accurate tests -- more accurate tests did not show any explosives material.

general lloyd spoke to the crowd in iraq. >> iraq's enemies will continue to seek opportunities to pursue their objectives but make no mistake. our military forces here and those of the iraqi nation remain committed to ensuring that our friends in iraq succeed. >> vice president joe biden says the transfer to general lloyd symbolize as a new chapter in our relationship with iraq. president obama kicked off peace talks between israeli prime minister ben anyone netanyahu and palestinian president mahmoud abbas yesterday. met with both leaders separately before they came together for dinner last night. sudden today, secretary of state clinton will host the first direct talks between israel and palestine in 20 months. that will take place at the state department. still ahead, the race for d.c. mayor, the two leading candidates mayor fenty and council chair vincent gray were involved in a debate yesterday.

mayor fenty's wife also had some emotional words. >> that ball is behind him. here we go. >> the nationals were involved in an ugly brawl. we'll tell you what sparked this scene. tucker? >> wow! all right, guys, off to a mild start here in the washington area. we've got the latest with hurricane earl and julie wright is back. she will have a look at your on- time traffic. we'll do all that coming up in just a minute.

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it is thursday morning as we get a live look at our nation's capital. seems very quiet outside this morning. 77degrees. i guess the quiet before the storm although i guess in the d.c. area, what are we going to see, tuck? >> we'll get some breezes. we'll get some cloud cover. possible some of of the bands of rain showers could make it close to the bay. i think here in washington it will -- you will be able to feel something is off to the south and east but we won't have to deal with the direct i'm pact of it. certainly nothing like what is going to happen along coastal areas, particularly north carolina as we get into the nighttime hours tonight. this is a very powerful hurricane and to be honest with you, it could be a lot worse. it is not going to make a direct landfall and move inland. it will ride along the coast. >> as it moves along t will just cause damage up and down the eastern seaboard. >> right along the coastal areas. but the most intense part of

the hurricane should stay offshore which is good news. around here, just a mild start. 97 yesterday. we'll be back in the 90s today. it won't be quite as warm today. i think we'll have a little bit of cloud cover associated with earl moving in later today. that will hold temperatures down a little bit. not at this hour. 77 at reagan national. 74 in quantico. manassas, one of the cooler spots, 64. plenty of 70s on the map. 75 to start your morning in fredericktown. satellite-radar,ing to fine -- doing fine here in washington. cold front out west. that will drive the hurricane off and protect the east coast from the worst of this storm. doesn't mean it won't be a very intense storm and doesn't mean it won't cause problems. can you see the cloud cover starting to make its way to the outer banks. we are waiting for an advisory

here any minute. you can see that is one intense hurricane. maximum winds, 140 miles per hour with sustained winds over 155. look at that eye. pressure down to 930 millibars at last look. you can see it is generally pushing off to the north and west at about 17 miles per hour. expected to take a bit of a northerly turn and a north easterly turn along the eastern seaboard t will produce lots of problems here along coastal areas. we have hurricane warnings, tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches up and down the eastern seaboard. category four hurricane, i mentioned the intensity. 140miles per hour. there it is. expect it to be parked off the delmarva peninsula. not sure exactly how far t could be 100, 200 miles off the coast here as we get into friday morning. still a major hurricane. likely to lose some intensity as it gets into cooler water. maximum winds still expected to be about 115 miles per hour by friday at noon and then off it goes racing off to the north and east. it will be out of here. much of the weekend, even down in the coastal communities, there will be clean-up for sure

but most of the weekend should feature sunshine both saturday and sunday in places like ocean city. it will get better from here. we still have to wait for the passage of earl. code orange air quality. your five-day forecast, later tonight, more cloud cover. kind of a partly sunny day tomorrow. it will be breezy at times as well with highs in the low 90s. could be a passing shower. we've got that cold front coming through as well tomorrow night. so it will be a busy day tomorrow. saturday, sunday, monday, look fantastic. holiday weekend couldn't be better with highs in the low 80s. >> that is a look at the forecast. let's get to the traffic with julie wright. >> you will find lanes are open traveling out of college park headed over towards 270. southbound, they are checking for a cash rapted south of 109. keep your eyes peeled for that coming south out of frederick this morning. # 55 looking good right now,

took street to seminary road and continuing out towards the 14th street bridge. as a result of yesterday's incident at the discovery channel, there is still a portion of wayne avenue shut down between colesville road and georgia avenue. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >> there is still an active scene at the discovery communications building in silver spring. police are sweeping the building following yesterday's hostage situation when a man with a gun and an apparent bomb strapped to his chest walked into the building around 1:00 in the afternoon. he took two employees and a security guard hostage. he was shot by police just before 5:00 yesterday evening. all three hostages escaped unharmed. a day care center is housed in the first floor of that building and, as can you imagine, many parents are relieved their the ones also made it out okay. touring the standoff, one day care worker tweeted if anyone is near a tv, please tell me what is going on. please, i'm really scared.

thank you, guys. coworkers are huddling around my phone reading your updates. another tweet says the kids in our day care are safe. our coverage continues with fox 5's laura evans. >> reporter: a mother's anguish trying to get to her baby who is in the day care inside the discovery communications building. >> if you have children -- >> reporter: hers was one of several babies whisked in their cribs from the day care down the sidewalk to a nearby mcdonald's while s.w.a.t. trucks moved into position and police tried to clear the area. day care workers jumped into action making sure the children were safe and out of harm's way. >> my child, my wife is in there. it is effect. she called me with what was going on and i whisked over

here and i saw the kids coming across colesville road so i ran out and grabbed kids and a lot of people were helping out. >> reporter: exactly how close the babies tort danger is unclear but someone who works in the child care center contacted fox 5 and said this. we heard two shots, not a bb gun or muffled noise. then a rattling noise that sounded like chance. when we were evacuating the children, we sought broken glass. my heart dropped when i saw the broken glass. i put it together that the shots were fired just on the other side. laura evans, fox 5 news. >> thank you. emergency crews are getting a big pat on the back if the way they handled the hostage situation. a discovery spokesman praised police, fire and rescue officials. >> let me just say on behalf of the company, thank you very much to law enforcement and montgomery county fire and rescue. it was incredibly professional operation. they were in constant communication with us. they handled themselves with

complete professionalism and we are relieved that it ended without any harm to any of our employees. >> stay with fox 5 on air and online for the latest developments. we have details on the alleged gunman on our site. can you access our twitter feed and post your comments. can you get there by logging onto myfoxdc.com. the wait is finally over for virginia drivers trying to renew or get their driver's licenses. dmv offices will start processing license requests again today. a computer glitch has crippled the agency since last wednesday. dmv is extending the hours until #:00 to help process the big backlog. you should expect long lines. a major debate between mayor fenty and councilman gray two week before the d.c. primary. they squared off during a debate at the newseum last night. karen gray houston reports. >> reporter: outside the newseum before the candidates

went at it, there was the usual campaign hoopla. >> don't forget mayor fenty! >> reporter: inside, the per functionary handshake and a hug. reporters at the ready and the slugfest was on. >> the issue of yoko ono cronyism will not be a factor in the gray administering as it has been in this administration where $8 # million in contract have gone to the mayor's fraternity professors. >> surely he read the "washington post" editorial board's statement on sunday where it said, and i'll quote, mr. feint fenty's friends did for the receive $82 million. >> reporter: fenty, who now trails gray by 17 points in a "washington post" poll also harped on a new theme in his campaign n his rush to make the city better, he says, he has made mistakes. >> i've got to do a better job making people feel good about that change so she include it in a part of that. i've learned that lesson. i commit to doing that. >> reporter: vincent gray is skeptical. >> frankly, i don't think it is a change of heart. i think it is a change of

strategy. >> reporter: mayor fenty does appear to be shifting gears. he brought his wife michelle along. >> i think the point is that the reason he goes out there every single day moving a thousand miles an hour is for the people. >> he says she has been a private first lady up until now because she is a full-time lawyer and has three children but she feels the need to defend her man. >> they have to understand that the whole point of his actions is for them. it is very difficult. >> reporter: michelle fenty says you will see more of her as the campaign winds down. in washington, karen gray houston, fox 5 news. >> the mayoral faceoff continues here on fox 5 tomorrow morning at 9:00. remember to send us your questions for a live debate. log onto myfoxdc.com and let us know what issues you want the candidates to discuss. more claims from people living near a local military base. they say the base is giving them a deadly disease.

that is still ahead on fox 5 morning news. but up next. >> the ball is behind him. here we go. >> the washington nationals were involved in an ugly brawl. we'll let you know what sparked this. you are watching fox 5 morning news. we'll be right back.  what's that? oh see this is the back to school list. the cost always makes mom freak. mommy. mom. hey mom. good times. mom, the back to school list is here.

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mommy. mom, the back to school list is here. looks expensive. graphing calculator, flash drives... that was easy. [ male announcer ] get back to school and back to savings on everything on your list at staples. it was a wild night not nats yet but to understand what happened, we first need to flash back to tuesday night when niger morgan barreled into bret hayes. hayes has a separated shoulder. so that takes us to last night. marlins hit morgan in retaliation and later in the game, they threw behind motheringen. he wasn't happy and then he charge the the mobbed and the benches clear. morgan and the mucher were ejected look with the nationals

manager. the nats lost this one 16-10. the redskins are gearing up for the final preseason game tonight against the cardinals in arizona. willie parker is likely to start tonight. he rushed for only 16 yards against the jets last week. the biggest competition is taking place at wide receiver. rookie brandon banks returned a punt for 77 yards. coach shanahan has advice for those on the bubble. >> you are here identify reason. don't count yourself out. take advantage of every opportunity f it's scout team or if it is three plays on special teams, it may help you in the practice squad. may help you get another job with another football team if you are released from our football team. so a lot goes into the equation. >> stay with us. we have much more still ahead. your weather, your traffic and all your top stories as fox 5 morning news at 5:00 begins now. good morning to you. thank you so much for being up early with us on this thursday rn